Vietnam going all out to grow its geographic footprint

The reputation of a specific geographical location has always been essential to the survival of agricultural businesses operating within its boundaries as the trust and confidence of the consumer most often has a profound effect on bottom line profits.

Dat Lat organic vegetables, Dak Lak coffee, Hung Yen lychees are all examples of agricultural products that are readily associated by Vietnamese consumers with their geographical location and have excellent reputations for quality.

If Vietnamese agriculture geographical locations, such as those mentioned, have a good reputation in the marketplace, consumers will most likely have a preference for them even if other businesses offer the same or similar products for lower prices.

The reputation of the geographical location can enable Vietnamese businesses to differentiate their products in highly competitive markets such as the UK, Germany and France and allow them to command premium pricing.

It could also be the determining factor in the decision by discriminating consumers in those countries whether to patronize Vietnamese farm produce or purchase a competitor’s products.

However, geographical names with commercial value are exposed to misuse and counterfeiting. The abuse of geographical indications limits access to certain markets and undermines consumer loyalty.

Fraudulent use of geographical locations or geographical indications (GIs) as they are commonly referred to hurts both producers and consumers and is one of the primary catalysts for the global movement for registration of them.

The EU continues to be one of the principal supporters of negotiations on geographical indications in the World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha Development Agenda.

The recently concluded (but yet to be ratified) EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement contains important levels of protection for Vietnamese agriculture products and their geographical indications.

Registering a geographical indicator is relatively simple in concept as it, hypothetically would allow Dat Lat Organic Vegetables to obtain a registered GI, which would mean that only growers in the Dat Lat region could use the label or sign ‘Dat Lat Organic Vegetables’.

Any farmer in the Dat Lat region would then be permitted to use this label provided they comply with the rules for growing as registered. Notably, all businesses from other WTO member nations would be prohibited from using this label.

So in concept it is similar to a brand name, trademark or other intellectual property right— but yet it is distinctively different in most respects, a fact commonly misunderstood by the Vietnam media.

A three-year US$1.3 million project aimed at improving the registration and management of GIs in Vietnam was recently launched by the Vietnam Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST).

The Agence Francaise de Development (AFD) will fund US$1.09 million of the cost of the project, which is a joint undertaking of the Vietnam Rural Development Centre, Centre for Agrarian Systems Research and Development, and the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development.

Vietnam is going all out to grow its geographic footprint, said Deputy Minister Tran Viet Thanh of the MoST at the unveiling and hopes to learn from the experience of France to make GIs an effective economic tool to stimulate agriculture exports.